Method of removing carbon deposits from internal combustion engines



Marh1e,1943. EABO SING 3,313,730

METHOD OF REMOVING CARBON'DEPOS ITS FROM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES File d 'Feb. 24, 1941 Fig.2; 21,

(\yyj 1 Patented Mar. 16,1943

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD or REMOVING cannot: DEPOSITS FROM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Ernest A.Boesing, Long Beach, Calif., assignor to Buffalo Electr c-Chem awanda, N. Y.

ical Company, Inc., Ton} Application February 24, 1941, Serial No. 380,317 Claims. (or. 123- 198).

,The present invention relates to a method :of

removing carbon, gum and other deposits from 'lnternalcombustion engines by the use of hydrogenperoxidesolutions,and is a continuation in part of my co-pending application, Serial No. $305,186, filed November 18, 1939 a An object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective method of removing such de 'posits from internal combustion engines, the method beingadapted to be carried out in a short period of timewithout the use of elaborate equipmeme; and beingefiective under all normal atmospheridconditions and on the various types andmakes of engines.

. Heretofore it has been proposed to introduce fby diverse means relativelydilute"solutions of hydrogenperoxide' into-"the combustion chambers or engines operating under load conditions for the purposes of preventing carbon formation and increasing combustion efiiciency. The present inventiongis contrary to these previous practices in that it contemplates atreatment for removal of deposits already, formed, a treatment which does not require that any special feeding means beattached to the engine and which may beperformed in a few minutes, making it practical to be, carried out in any garage or service station. Furthermore, water or a water solution is not applied over a long period of time as wascontemplated by the prior art, a practice which was i highly conductive to corrosion of the engine parts.

" These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from thefollowingdescription made inconjunction with the accompanying. drawing, wherein:

Fig. I is a fragmentary elevational view of an automobile engineupon' which the invention is beingpract'iced and one form of apparatus that may be employed; and i Fig. 2 is a plan view of .a plate which may be used gwhen treating a, certain type of engine. As shown'in Fig, 1 the engine 3 may have a carburetor 4 from which a gasoline air mixture is passed through an intake manifold 5 into the combustion chambers. conventionally a throttle valve 6 is provided in the intake passage between the mixing chamber of the carburetor and the I manifold, and usually an air cleaner, not shown.

is attached to the air intake 1 leading into the throat 8 of the carburetor. The fuel line leading to the carburetor is designated 9 and at l0 is shown a hose extending to the manifold from a suction operated windshield cleaner.

In practicing the-present invention the engine having carbon' deposits to be removed is either at normal running temperatureor, coldfis warmediup to this temperature. The throttle valve is closed, being preferably set by. the hand control usually provided on automobiles, so that the engine will idle at approximately 300 to 1200 R. P. M.. After removing the "air cleaner from the intake! to expose the carburetor throat, one

hand or other throttling means, such as a plate I3 is placed over the air inlet to restrictthe inrushing air until the engine begins to lope and slows down until it is justturning over; Of course, the carburetor throat is notentirelythrottled off, and throughthe remaining space-not covered by thehand orplate I3, or: through .an opening which may be provided in'thelatter, a hydrogen peroxide solution, is poured from a container. H

the hose 10 may be disconnected fromthe accesdirectlyinto the engine throatll. 'Or, if desired,

the. manifold throughlthehose.

The container ll may comprise a glass bottle preferably provided with a small 'metal tube. I2 inserted by a rubberstopper or other closuredevice and which may control the rate of flow of the solutionfi The rate doesnot seem to be critical sory andthe contents of the bottle injected into within reasonable limits, but I prefer to empty the contents of the bottle into the engine intake over a restricted period of time,,say over two minutes. A quantity of 0.0, of 30% hydrogen peroxide has been found to be sufilcient for treat; ing conventional automobile engines, it being understood that greater or lesser quantities may be used for very large or verysmall engines, and also that the quantity may be increased. or decreased, respectively, when using less ormore concentrated peroxide solutions.

After allflof the solution has entered the carburetor, the restriction of air is preferably con; tinued for an adidtional minute or so to allow any liquid remaining within the manifold system to evaporate. Thereafter the carburetor throat is uncovered, the throttle set fornormal idling, the

yair cleaner replaced, thereby completing the treatment. The motor may now be moderately accelerated, by stepping on the foot throttle several times inthe case of a conventional automobile engine, and it will usually be found that black smoke or brown lead dust will be expelled from the exhaust pipe. The motor ping present when a motor has excessive carbon deposits, will be gone, and, in general, the motor performance will be noticeably improved. The condition of sticky valves, caused bygum deposits onthe valve stems, is usuallyremedied and spark plugs are cleaned, improving slow speed performance and idling;

In the case of engines having twin carburetor throats, such as conventional eight cylinder automobile engines, the peroxide solution should be distributed substantially equally between the two throats. This can be accomplished'by moving the tube l2 first to one and then to the other side of the carburetor intake opening for equal periods of time. Or theplate [3 may, as shown in Fig. 2, be provided with two small openings I4 for receiving the tube 12 and spaced. about so as to overlie the twin carburetor throats which' are indicated schematically in Fig. 2 by broken lines IS. The tube l2 may be inserted in each of the openings while approximately half of the bottles contentsis emptied into the throat therebeneath. If desired, the plate may be made of Lucite or other transparent material to permit inspection and to insure alignment of the openings M with the carburetor throats. When the plate is used on a carburetor having only one throat, of course either opening [4 maybe used.

While. I have referred hereinbefore to 'a rate of injection of two minutes for 150 c. c. ofgsolution, wide variations are permissible; for example, the flow may be sosrestricted' as to extend over periods of time varying from 1- to 5 minutes without impairing the success of the operations. Variations may also bemade in the quantity'of so-- lution employed, but I have found that in practic ally all cases of automobile engines 150 c. c.

represents a satisfactory amount. As regards the strength orconcentration oi the peroxide solution, high concentrations, such as those now marketed and sold by the manufacturers, of up to about 45% by weight may be used satisfactorily and I prefer touse the conventional 30% or 100 volumesolution. Such concentrated solutions are satisfactory because they have higher intrinsic energy content, contain less water to be evaporated, and require less container space.

Very weak or unconcentrated solutions, even though used in large quantities, may be ineffective for carbon removal. I I

'With reference to the degree of 'air fiow restriction, it is satisfactory to throttle'the motor down to a point where it begins to lope and jerk, i. e., to a slow idling speed. Themorethe, opening is restricted, the greater the absolute pressure within the manifold, the higher the compression end-temperature. Engines have been treated with as low a pressure differential as 1" of mercury; i. e., a practically equal to atmospheric pressure.

Under high temperature conditions, as for example when treatment is being carried out in a warm climate, or in a heated room, or where the intake manifold is heated by extraneous means, such as by a blow-torch, the process may be: carried out successfully without restricting the engine intake other than by closing the throttle valve so that the engine is1 operating at normal;

idling speed at the time the concentrated hydrogenperoxide solution is injected into the manifold.

I claim: 1. A method of removing carbon,- gum and other deposits from an internal combustion en,- gine, comprising operating the engine under idling conditions, and at substantially closed, throttle, throttling the air inlet of the carburetor to cause the" engine to operate at a substantially minimum speed, and while so operating intro-- ducing, into said air inlet in a restricted period of time a quantity of concentrated solution of v hydrogen peroxide.

2. A method of removing carbon, gum and other deposits from an internal combustion engine, comprising operating the engine under idling conditions and at substantially closed throttle, throttling the air inlet of the, carburetor to cause the engine to operate at a substantially minimum speed, and while so operating introducing into said air inlet in a restrictedv period of time a quantity of concentratedsolution of hydrogen peroxide, and of maintaining the,

throttled condition. of said airinletuntil said so.- lution has p'assed into the combustion chambers of the engine.

3. A method of removing carbon, gum and other deposits from an internal combustion. en gine, comprising operating the. engine under idling conditions and at substantially closed throttle, throttling theair inlet of the carburetor to cause the engine to operate at substantially minimum speed, and while so opera-ing injecting into the intake manifold of the engine in a: re.-

stricted period of time a predetermined quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide.

4. A method of removing carbon, gum and other deposits from an internal combustion engine, comprising operating the engine under idling conditions and at substantially closed throttle, and while so operating introducing into the intake manifold of the engine in a, restricted period of time a quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide. 

